


The Moment that Should Have Been

by Iron_Heart



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Greg and Rebecca are meant to be and no one can tell me otherwise, Greg has so many issues and needs to be loved, How the finale should have ended, Season Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-07 14:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7717741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iron_Heart/pseuds/Iron_Heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a redo for the ending of the season 1 finale, 'Paula Needs To Get Over Josh'.<br/>Instead of staying at the wedding, Rebecca takes her drunk, self-loathing kind-of boyfriend home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Greg?"

This would happen to her. It made perfect sense. She finally works up enough courage to acknowledge her feelings and actually share them with her boyfriend only to have him black out drunk. But not before telling her she was "cool". Cool? Really? That was all she got?

"Greg? Hey? Hey, Greg!" She continued to poke and shake him but it looked like he was out for the night.

Perfect.

"Ah, yes. The classic Serrano pass out," concluded White Josh, appearing from around the bar. He offered Rebecca a sympathetic smile.

"I'll get him," he assured, patting Greg on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll go with you,” Rebecca tiredly replied.

She looked so utterly deflated White Josh couldn’t help but feel for her.

"You will not,” he declared, sternly. “You stay here. You don't want to see what's on the other side of this. War movie....,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

When his attempt at humor fell flat, he shifted gears and offered Rebecca another sympathetic glance. “I'm sorry he blew it. I know that he cares but...that's Greg. It's who he is."

Rebecca contemplated this a moment. To be perfectly honest, yeah, Greg kind of blew it tonight. Nothing about this night had gone the way she had planned. Least of all his reaction to her putting her feelings for him out there in the open. She made herself vulnerable, something she hadn't done in who knew how long. And all she got back was a lukewarm, casual response in return.

But if she stepped back to look at the bigger picture, she knew in her heart that this wasn't Greg.

Well, actually this was exactly Greg.

Greg had baggage. Lots and lots of emotional baggage. But who was she to judge? She certainly carried around her own set of emotional luggage.

Greg has seen her at some of her lowest points and still wants to be with her. At least she thought he did.....no, of course he did. This night just had to be a fluke. A bump in the road. It just had to be. Instead of getting witty, disarming Greg who shows up for her exactly when she needs him, she got self-sabotaging, bitter Greg who thinks he'll always be playing 2nd to Josh.

But they had been through too much for it to end like this.

"Uhm. No, it's okay. I'll come with you and take him home. He just needs to sleep it off."

The two managed to finagle Greg into the back seat of his car and in to Rebecca's apartment with relative ease.

"You sure you're okay?" White Josh asked for the sixth time since Rebecca insisted on coming with him. "I really don't mind staying with him. You shouldn't have to deal with this."

Greg groaned from the couch in his alcohol induced stupor before mumbling a couple incoherent sentences.

This was her last chance to change her mind and she was seriously contemplating taking him up on the offer. She could just let White Josh take Greg back to his place and avoid all the awkwardness that was sure to be there in the morning. That would be the easiest thing to do and a month ago she definitely would have taken that route. But she was getting so tired of always running from relationships, running from happiness. And despite all his faults, she was finally able to admit to herself that it was indeed Greg Serrano who made her happy.

"I'm sure. He'll be fine." She assured, waving is Greg's general direction. "I'll put a trash can by the couch in case he gets sick."

White Josh still didn't look convinced but nodded reluctantly anyway. "Alright. You have my cell if you need me?"

"Yes, yes" she chided, leading him towards the front door. "Now go back to the party. I'm sure Daryl would love one last dance," she offered with a small smile.

They exchanged a quick hug before Rebecca shut her front door, leaning back against the cool wood.

She let out a deep sigh, contemplating her next move. She had definitely planned on spending the night with Greg tonight, but not quite like this.

 

* * *

 

 

He might be dying.

Literally dying.

At least that's what Greg felt like as he started to regain consciousness. His head felt like it was trying to split itself in two and his stomach was performing acrobatics.

Slowly but surely he started to take in his surroundings. His face was buried in a soft pillow with a familiar scent and someone had placed a blanket over him at one point. It was still dark outside and whosever house he was in was still and quiet, indicating that it must still be night time.

For the sake of his head and stomach, Greg shifted ever so slowly to get a better look around.

Between his blurry vision and the lack of light he couldn’t make out much, but there was no missing the giant fish hanging on the wall in front of him.

“A fish?” he mumble, still trying to process everything. “Who would hang a giant……oh shit.”

And then it all came rushing back to him. The wedding reception, seeing Rebecca and Josh together, getting drunk, calling her cool? He called her cool? What the hell.

“I love you, Rebecca,” he whispered softly. “I should have said I love you.”

He knew he had acted like a jerk and part of him knew he was pushing her away. As soon as a relationship started feeling serious, he found a reason to end it. But with Rebecca, he had this added fear that he was just a placeholder for her and she would eventually leave him for Josh.

When they finally got together, he thought they could have a no-strings attached relationship and for a while it seemed to work. They got along great and the sex was even better. But the longer it went on and the more time they spent together, the harder it was to deny the feelings he has had for her since the first day she walked in to Home Base.

But as his feelings grew, so did his fear of eventually losing her. And in true Serrano fashion, he may have done just that.

Without thinking, he shot up from the couch and lunged for the stairs. Despite the strong protest his body was making, he powered through the nausea and pain as he stumbled up the stairs towards Rebecca’s bedroom.

* * *

 

 “Ow! God, shit!”

“Greg?”

Rebecca turned on her bedside light revealing a disheveled Greg Serrano sitting dejectedly in front of her bedroom door.

“Doors are hard...,” he mumbled to himself, rubbing his forehead.

“Greg, what are you doing? Go back to sleep,” she scolded, helping him off the floor.

“No, I can’t go to sleep. I have to tell you something,” he insisted, holding her shoulders for support. She gently started leading him out of her room and towards the stairs.

“You’re still drunk, Greg. Just go back downstairs and we’ll talk in the morning.”

“No, I have to tell you now before it’s too late!”

“Before what’s too late? It’s three in the morning. Please, just come back downstairs,” she urged, tugging on his arm.

“Rebecca, I love you.” Her breath caught in her throat.

“Greg…”

“Please, just hear me out,” he pleaded. “I know I screwed up. I majorly screwed up tonight, but-”

“Greg,” she shushed. “Greg, please stop talking. You’re still out of it and you’re just going to say things you don’t mean.”

“No! Please,” he begged. “I know exactly what I’m saying. I’m saying I love you!”

Rebecca stared back at him with a pained, conflicted expression. These were exactly the words she wanted to hear tonight and she wanted more than anything to believe him. But his breath still smelled like whiskey and his eyes were tired and bloodshot. Despite his insisting that he knew what he was doing, she couldn’t take that chance. She had already been let down once tonight.

“I’ll tell you what,” she replied slowly. “Come to bed and we’ll talk in the morning.”

Greg’s face fell. “But…”

“Please, Greg. Please just come to bed and you can tell me again in the morning. Okay?”

The wounded look on Greg’s face didn’t wain but this time he allowed her to lead him to the bed. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is finally here! I'm so sorry this took so long to post! as they usually do, life and school got in the way but at last this story is finished!  
> Warning: It's basically self-indulgent fluff meant to make me feel better about how their relationship is really going in the show.  
> Anyway, thank you to all of you for being patient with me! I hope you enjoy!

 When Greg woke up for the second time, the first thing he noticed was that it was a lot brighter than the last time he regained consciousness.

The second thing he noticed was that his skull appeared to be attempting to split in two causing an incredibly painful sensation behind his eyes.

Through bleary eyes he spotted the aspirin and bottle of water on the nightstand beside him, no doubt left by Rebecca. He quickly swallowed the drugs and downed the whole bottle of water in a few gulps. The quicker he threw himself together, the quicker he could find Rebecca and apologize for last night. He only hoped she would listen.

* * *

 

He gingerly made his way down to the first floor of her apartment, mindful of his movements so as not to anger his already raging headache.

"How are you feeling?"

Her soft voice made him jump.

Rebecca's tired eyes were trained on the newspaper in front of her, only making the lump in Greg's stomach sink lower. She wouldn't even look at him.

But could he blame her? He had already caused her so much grief. She didn't deserve this. She deserved a guy who could handle being a grown up. Who could tell her how beautiful and amazing she was. Who could actually handle talking about his feelings.

Could he even be that for her? Did he have the capacity for that? Previous experience told him the answer was a resounding 'no'.

"Greg?"

Her voice snapped him back to reality.

"I'm okay," he hesitated. "Probably better than I deserve."

"There's some coffee in the kitchen if you want some," she offered, returning her gaze to the morning paper she had been reading before he made his entrance.

He eyed the chair across from her wearily. He wanted to sit and talk about last night, but was having trouble reading Rebecca's mood. She didn't seem outright angry, but she hadn't looked him in the eye at all yet and it was clear last night's behavior wouldn't be soon forgotten.

Greg decided to take the chance and slowly lowered himself in to the dining room chair across from Rebecca. "I'm good on the coffee for now...uhmm...listen, Rebecca, I-."

"Look, Greg, you don't need to say anything," Rebecca cut him off quickly. "You were drunk. I get it. You don't need to apologize or take anything back."

Greg's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"You don't feel the same way as I do. It's fine," she shrugged. Her words said 'no big deal' but he'd literally have to be blind not to see the pain behind her words. He tried to pretend he didn't notice how tears were starting to pool at the corners of her eyes.

Her sad eyes finally met his and it felt like a punch in the gut. "If you want to end this...whatever this is," she said gesturing between them. "...just do it."

This was not at all how he envisioned this conversation going.

"Rebecca, I'm an idiot."

Her head cocked slightly to the side, but she otherwise provided no reaction and waited for him to elaborate.

"I don't want to leave. I don't want to end this thing between us." He reached across the small table to take her hand. "I love you, Rebecca. I'm in love with you and it scares the hell out of me."

She looked as if she may start crying again, but this time Greg hoped they were happier tears so he continued.

"I wanted to keep things simple and casual because I thought that then maybe it wouldn't hurt me as much when you changed your mind and went back to chasing Josh. But nothing is ever simple with you, Bunch." He gripped her hand a little tighter. "I started to realize just how far gone I was but I wasn’t sure that’s what you wanted. I thought maybe you liked me better when I didn’t care.”

“Where in the world would you get an idea like that?” Rebecca interrupted.

“In my defense, I told you I was an idiot,” he replied in his usual sarcastic tone. However, the look her received in return told him Rebecca was not in a joking mood.

His vibrato fell as he wet his lips and contemplated his next words carefully. “You finally seemed to want me after I stopped trying. I figured maybe that was what you were in to. So if I let on that I was starting to have feeling for you, I thought you might leave.”

“I wanted last night to be perfect,” she whispered. “I thought I could make it perfect.”

“I’m sorry,” Greg whispered back. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Well, I mean, I do. I thought that’s what you wanted. And then there’s Josh. Every time I looked up last night, Josh was staring at you from across the room. I got it in my head that if he wanted you, there was no way you'd ever still want me."

Rebecca stared back at him sadly. “That’s not true, Greg.”

“But I thought it was.”

“That’s why you thought I was going to break up with you at the wedding? I don’t know what to do to make you understand that I’m over Josh. How do I convince you that I meant it when I said you’re not second choice?”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that, I guess,” Greg confessed.

“You really hurt me, Greg,” she admitted softly. “I tried to be honest and tell you how I feel and you gave me nothing. You ignored me all night, got drunk, and when I asked you how you felt, you told me I was cool.”

“I know I screwed up,” he hurriedly agreed. “That’s what I was trying to tell you last night.”

“When you were drunk?”

“I wasn’t drunk!”

Rebecca raised an unconvinced eyebrow.

“Okay, perhaps I was still a little intoxicated,” Greg allowed. “But I meant every word.”

He scooted his chair closer to hers and took both her hands in his. “I love you, Rebecca. That’s what I should have said yesterday. That’s how I feel.”

“Really?” The tears that had been threatening to fall all morning, finally spilled over her eyelids.

“Really,” he confirmed, reaching out to wipe her cheek.

“I love you too.”

Closing the short distance between them, Greg’s lips met hers in a soft kiss. Rebecca gripped his shoulders, effectively pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

She took a few seconds to enjoy the moment before pulling back slightly to look Greg in the eye. “You know we probably still have a lot more that we need to talk, right?”

“I know,” he agreed, still smiling.

“And that we’re both still pretty screwed up?”

“Definitely.”

“I mean, I should really still be going to therapy, and we might want to evaluate your drinking habits a little more closely.”

“Mehh…” he shrugged, noncommittal.

“But we’re really doing this?”

“I’m in if you are, Bunch.” If the smile on Greg’s face didn’t convince her, the flutter it caused in her chest certainly did.

“Oh, I’m in, Serrano.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!  
> I have a couple more Greg/Rebecca stories in the works. If inspiration hits, hopefully I will get those out soon.  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
